The fantasy genre draws inspiration from fairy tales and legends. For this month’s author birthday, I’ve selected Hans Christian Andersen who is best known for his collections of fairy tales. These tales have entertained, inspired, and sometimes frightened children and adults the world over.
Through these tales, we learned lessons of virtue and the importance of resilience in the face of adversity.
They also inspired our imaginations and creativity.
Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark on April 2, 1805. He died August 4, 1875. Andersen wrote plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, but he is most famous for his fairy tales.
Andersen’s mother was an illiterate washerwoman, and his father had an elementary school education. Determined that his son would have a better life, Hans Sr. made reading a priority in their home. He introduced Andersen to the magical tales of The Arabian Knights. After his death in 1816, Mrs. Anderson remarried and Hans was sent to a local school for poor children where he received a basic education, but had to work as an apprentice to a weaver and later a tailor to support himself.
At fourteen, Andersen moved to Copenhagen hoping to make his living as an actor. Because of his beautiful soprano voice, he was accepted to the Royal Danish Theatre. All was well until his voice changed. After hearing Andersen recite some of the poems he had written, a friend at the theatre suggested he should concentrate on his writing.
The director of the Royal Danish Theatre sent Andersen to grammar school and convinced King Frederick VI to pay part of his tuition. Andersen suffered abuse at the school. Some of his instructors insisted harsh discipline was character building. He was forced to suffer in silence or abandon his education. Andersen had his first story, “The Ghost at Palnatoke’s Grave” published in 1822. The story was well received though not a huge success. According to Andersen, his instructors discouraged him from pursuing his passion for writing. He fell into a depression, but remained at the school until 1827.
In 1829, Andersen published, “A Journey on Foot From Holmen’s Canal to the East Point of Amager.” The short story was a success. He followed it up with a theatrical piece and a book of poems. For his efforts, Andersen received a travel grant from the king which allowed him to travel through Europe drawing inspiration from the places he visited.
Fairy Tales Told for Children: First Collection, featuring nine fairy tales, was published in three installments between 1835 and 1837. The first three tales, “The Tinderbox,” “Little Claus and Big Claus,” “The Princess and the Pea” were based on stories Andersen heard as a child. The fourth tale, “Little Ida’s Flowers” was a story written for the daughter of one of his early benefactors who paid Andersen to write it.
The next set of tales, “Thumbelina,” “The Naughty Boy,” and “The Traveling Companion” were published in late 1835.
The first two installments were panned by critics who felt Andersen’s writing style was too informal. He took a year off to concentrate on writing a novel before completing the final installment.
The most successful tales in his first collection appeared in the third installment in 1837, “The Little Mermaid,” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The popularity and love for “The Little Mermaid” established his international reputation and eventually cemented Andersen’s future as an important Danish writer and author of fairy tales.
The installments were later combined and printed as one volume.
In the 1840’s, Andersen worked on writing for the theater with little success. He started a second series of fairy tales in 1838 and a third set in 1845. In 1851, he published a volume of travel sketches in Sweden which included a few fairy tales. It was well received throughout Europe. At this point, Andersen was more recognized for his literary talents throughout Europe than in his home country of Denmark.
Andersen’s personal life is shrouded in mystery. According to his diaries, he was infatuated with several women and men during his life. He was attracted to unavailable women who were either married or well above his social station. He seemed to spend a lot of time in the “friend zone.” He expressed attraction for several men in the theater. He also expressed strong moral convictions about engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage. Biographers are divided about Andersen’s sexuality. He has been labeled bisexual, gay, and asexual. Many argue that even if he had feelings for men his strict religious upbringing and rigid moral code would have prevented him from acting upon those feelings. Others insist he had several relationships with men and women during his life.
In Andersen’s time. Same sex relationships were illegal throughout most of the world. He would have been shunned by most of society and faced imprisonment. His career would have been destroyed, so he had to be discreet. His work and his personal life had to be separate, so we will never know.
I respect his desire for privacy. I also understand some people’s desire for historical accuracy and representation of LGTBQIA+ people. What I will never understand is someone trying to ban a book because of the alleged sexual orientation of its author.
Hans Christian Andersen is a beloved figure in children’s literature. If you loved a fairy tale when you were a child, chances are it is one of the many tales he created or recounted from legends. Andersen published nine volumes of fairy tales consisting of 156 stories. They have been translated into more than 125 different languages. These stories have inspired books, plays, ballets, and animated and live-action feature films.
Happy Birthday, Hans Christian Andersen!